Commentary: Consider Virginia Tech, VMI for new Space Academy

The U.S Space Force was created in 2019. Last month, President Donald Trump signed and executive order launching a 120-day study of the framework for creating a civilian-military-commercial United States Space Academy. On Saturday night, Virginia Tech and Virginia Military Institute met on a football field for the first time in 42 years. The game in Blacksburg revived one of Virginia's oldest college football rivalries. Virginia Tech and VMI first played in 1894. For generations, their meetings were important enough to be known as the 'Military Classic of the South.' But these days, the two schools have something much bigger than football to compete for. Days before the Hokies and Keydets met at Lane Stadium, an executive order was signed establishing a United States Space Academy, an institution intended to educate and train the next generation of military and civilian space leaders. Its permanent home has not been chosen. Virginia should raise its hand. In the wake of Saturday's game, consider an intriguing question: If the United States is serious about building a Space Academy, could one of Virginia's two historic military institutions help build it? There are good arguments for both. VMI is one of the nation's six senior military colleges. Founded in Lexington in 1839, it has spent nearly two centuries educating cadets under a military system. Every student is a cadet. Military discipline, leadership and service aren't extracurricular activities there; they are the organizing principles of the institution. VMI also already has a connection to the newest branch of the armed forces. Cadets can pursue commissioning opportunities across the military, including the Space Force, and the institute has commissioned graduates into the service. Transforming or expanding VMI into a major component of a Space Academy would therefore be less radical than it might initially sound. It would also carry enormous symbolism. VMI is an institution deeply connected to America's military past. Its history stretches through the Civil War, two world wars, desegregation, the admission of women and the wars of the 21st century. A school whose identity has been shaped by nearly two centuries of American military history could help prepare officers for a battlefield its founders could never have imagined. But 84 miles southwest of Lexington, Virginia Tech offers an equally compelling, and perhaps stronger case. Virginia Tech began in 1872 as Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College. Its students were originally cadets, and although the institution eventually developed into a large civilian research university, the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets survived. That combination may be exactly what a Space Academy needs. The future of warfare will not be defined solely by who can march the best or endure the most demanding physical training. Space operations depend upon engineers, physicists, computer scientists, cybersecurity specialists, intelligence professionals and people capable of operating technologies that may not even exist today. Virginia Tech already brings military education into the environment of a major research university. Walk around Blacksburg and you can encounter cadets preparing to become military officers alongside students and researchers working in engineering, artificial intelligence, robotics, computing and aerospace. That is not far removed from what the Space Force itself represents: the intersection of military service and advanced technology. Perhaps, then, the question should not be whether Virginia Tech or VMI should simply be converted into the Space Academy. Maybe Virginia should offer something more ambitious. Build the academy here and make both institutions partners. VMI could contribute nearly two centuries of experience in military leadership and officer development. Virginia Tech could provide the scientific and technological ecosystem necessary for educating a generation of Guardians, engineers and space professionals. A federal academy could draw from both while developing its own identity and traditions. Virginia has another argument in its favor: geography. The commonwealth sits next to Washington, D.C., and hosts the Pentagon in Arlington County. NASA Langley Research Center has operated in Hampton for more than a century. NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on the Eastern Shore provides one of the country's important gateways to space. Northern Virginia is deeply connected to the nation's defense, intelligence, aerospace and technology industries. A Virginia Space Academy would therefore not exist in isolation. It could sit inside an ecosystem stretching from Blacksburg and Lexington to Hampton Roads, Wallops Island and the nation's capital. There is also something fitting about considering this question in the wake of a Virginia Tech–VMI football game. These institutions represent different chapters in the history of American military education. VMI was founded before the Civil War. Virginia Tech was created during Reconstruction. Both survived enormous transformations in the country around them. Both eventually admitted students who would have been excluded during earlier generations. Both continue to educate men and women who enter military service. And now both exist at the beginning of another transformation. The United States created the Space Force in 2019, establishing the first new branch of the armed forces since the Air Force was created in 1947. Now the country is considering what kind of institution should educate the people who will lead it decades from now. That deserves more than a rush to construct another campus. Before Washington spends billions building an institution from the ground up, policymakers should look at the military colleges and research universities America already has. Virginia happens to possess two of the most interesting examples. Saturday night, cadets from Virginia Tech and VMI entered Lane Stadium carrying traditions that stretch back generations. The football players competed for a victory that will be remembered until the schools meet again. But the more consequential competition is only beginning. For almost two centuries, Virginia has educated Americans for wars fought on land, at sea and in the air. It should make the case that the Commonwealth can help educate them for what comes next. Jeff Bennett is the author of "The Black Belt of Virginia: Untold Stories of African American History," published by The History Press. He is a VMI graduate. Catch the latest in Opinion Get opinion pieces, letters and editorials sent directly to your inbox weekly! During the late 1980s and early '90s, I covered the Vinton Town Council as a freelancer for The Roanoke Times' Vinton edition of its 'Neighbor… People often talk about voting rights restoration as though the political outcome is known. The assumption is simple: if people with felony co… Socialism gets rebranded every generation with new faces and a catchy slogan. But the pitch stays the same: This time will be different. 🎧 The hosts debate whether AI-powered license plate readers provide meaningful public protection or create unacceptable risks involving priva… So, it was a war for oil after all.